KB Kookmin Bank taps BNY for digital wallet payments

KB Kookmin Bank has signed a strategic agreement with BNY covering cross-border digital asset payments and remittances as the South Korean lender expands its international payment services.

Summary

• KB Kookmin Bank has signed a BNY agreement covering cross-border digital payments and remittance services globally.
• BNY named Kookmin Bank among initial users of its newly launched Pay-to-Wallet cross-border payment capability.
• Pay-to-Wallet uses existing SWIFT messages and correspondent banking infrastructure to reach participating retail digital wallets directly.
• BNY combines its U.S. dollar clearing network with round-the-clock processing for approved payment markets and corridors.
• KB previously launched blockchain-based corporate cross-border payments through J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys network across ten countries successfully.

BNY confirmed on Sept. 28 that Kookmin Bank is among the initial Asia-Pacific users of its new Pay-to-Wallet capability, which lets banks send cross-border payments from customer bank accounts directly to participating retail digital wallets using existing SWIFT messages and correspondent banking infrastructure.

The memorandum of understanding was signed during Sibos 2026 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Florida. KB Kookmin Bank said the agreement covers cooperation in digital payments, digital assets and cross-border remittance services, with BNY’s global payment network forming part of the planned infrastructure.

For Kookmin Bank customers, the first stated use case centers on overseas remittances, including services for foreign residents and international students. The bank plans to combine its foreign-exchange capabilities with BNY’s payment network and Pay-to-Wallet infrastructure.

KB Kookmin Bank can send payments to digital wallets

BNY’s Pay-to-Wallet service gives participating banks a route from conventional bank accounts to retail digital wallets without requiring each lender to build separate integrations with individual wallet providers.

BNY launched the capability on Sept. 28, the same day Kookmin Bank and BNY signed their agreement. The service uses BNY’s U.S. dollar clearing network, existing correspondent banking arrangements and continuous payment-processing infrastructure.

Kookmin Bank is not merely named as a prospective participant. BNY identifies the South Korean lender as one of the initial banks using the capability in Asia Pacific, alongside other selected institutions.

Raphael Baik, head of Kookmin Bank’s foreign exchange business division, said customers increasingly want payment options that match the way recipients prefer to receive money.

“A Pay-to-Wallet capability can help us broaden access to digital wallet payments in a more efficient way,” Baik said.

BNY describes the service as supporting account-to-wallet payments across approved markets and corridors. Its product documentation states that institutions can use established correspondent banking and ISO 20022 messaging infrastructure to reach supported wallets.

Potential applications listed by BNY include person-to-person cross-border payments, tax refunds, insurance payouts and pension distributions. The bank has not publicly identified every wallet provider or corridor supported by the initial Kookmin Bank deployment.

BNY Pay-to-Wallet does not require a new payment rail

Although the Kookmin agreement covers digital assets, BNY’s Pay-to-Wallet service should not be described as a cryptocurrency transfer product based on the available announcement.

BNY says the capability sends money from bank accounts to participating retail digital wallets through established SWIFT and correspondent banking infrastructure. The company has not said that the initial Kookmin Bank service settles payments with stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies.

The service uses existing payment messages while extending the final destination to a digital wallet. BNY says this approach reduces the need for banks to build new technical connections with multiple wallet operators.

Fabian Khoshbakht, BNY’s head of global payments and trade for Asia Pacific, said banks need payment capabilities they can deploy “without having to build layers of integration with wallet providers.”

BNY plans to begin with selected Asia-Pacific participants before extending Pay-to-Wallet into more markets. The company said digital wallets already account for 50% of point-of-sale transactions in Asia Pacific and projected the share to exceed 60% by 2027.

BNY had $62.6 trillion of assets under custody or administration and $2.2 trillion under management as of June 30, according to its Pay-to-Wallet announcement. The New York-based financial institution says it serves nearly all of the world’s top 100 banks.

KB has already moved cross-border payments onto blockchain

Kookmin Bank’s latest agreement follows several digital-asset payment projects launched during 2026.

In July, KB Kookmin Bank prepared South Korea’s first Kinexys-powered corporate cross-border payment service using J.P. Morgan’s blockchain payment network. The service was designed to support U.S. dollar trade payments involving the bank’s South Korean and Singapore operations across ten countries.

The product connects blockchain settlement infrastructure with conventional international payment systems. Kookmin Bank planned the initial service for importers and exporters seeking to process cross-border payments beyond normal bank operating hours.

As crypto.news previously reported, South Korea’s largest bank brought cross-border corporate payments to J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys network, with the initial rollout covering U.S. dollar transfers across ten markets.

Kookmin Bank had already expanded into blockchain-based capital markets. In June, KB Kookmin Bank raised $100 million through a blockchain-powered digital bond issued in Hong Kong using HSBC’s Orion platform.

The two-year foreign-currency bond reduced the issuance settlement period from five business days to three, according to the earlier report.

Within consumer payments, KB Financial Group has experimented with won-linked digital money as well. As crypto.news reported, KB tested won stablecoin issuance, offline payments and overseas remittances in a proof of concept involving KG Inicis, Kaia and OpenAsset.

The Vietnam remittance test completed a transfer in under three minutes and reduced fees by approximately 87%, according to results cited in that report. South Korea has yet to finalize its regulatory framework for won-denominated stablecoins.

BNY has expanded from crypto custody into USDC services

BNY has been developing its own digital-asset payment capabilities alongside the traditional infrastructure used for Pay-to-Wallet.

In June, BNY opened USDC minting and redemption to institutional clients through its Digital Asset Custody platform. Eligible institutions can convert U.S. dollars into Circle’s USDC stablecoin, redeem USDC back into dollars, hold it in custody and transfer tokens through the bank’s infrastructure.

BNY already had a relationship with Circle as a custodian for portions of USDC’s reserves. The June expansion moved the bank into direct client-facing stablecoin services.

Kookmin Bank’s new MOU leaves open the possibility of further cooperation in digital assets, but neither bank has announced that USDC will form part of their Pay-to-Wallet service.

The Sept. 28 agreement instead identifies overseas remittance services, digital payments and next-generation financial infrastructure as areas for joint work. Kookmin Bank said it intends to provide tailored remittance services to foreign customers and international students through BNY’s network.

Pay-to-Wallet is beginning with selected institutions in Asia Pacific before BNY expands the service into other regions. BNY has not disclosed the full list of supported digital wallets, the first Kookmin Bank payment corridors or a timetable for the broader global rollout.